


Waiting

by wyntirrose



Series: Trials and Blessings [11]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-23
Updated: 2008-03-23
Packaged: 2017-11-10 05:22:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/462639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyntirrose/pseuds/wyntirrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Wheeljack is recovering from a nearly fatal accident, Ratchet gets comfort from an unlikely source.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting

I sat beside him for hours just waiting for any kind of sign. The surgery had taken far too long and frankly, I was worried. More worried than I was letting anyone know. Finally I just couldn't stand to see him lying there, so quiet and still. I just had to get away, so I hid myself in my office. I was still in the med bay, so I'd be right there if something changed, but I could try to busy myself, try to take my mind off Wheeljack and the machines that were helping him live.

I stared at my data pads trying to fill my time with busy work, but my mind always strayed back to the ICU. Being here didn't help; being there didn't help. All I wanted to do was lock myself in my quarters and get plastered. Of course, they were in the med bay, so I wouldn't be getting away then either. And an over-charged Ratchet didn't help anyone. My mood just got darker and darker the longer Wheeljack was on life support. And the darker it got, the louder the high grade called.

I suppose that it didn't help any that I was alone in all this. Most people were smart enough to stay away when my moods got dark. Most people knew that being near me when Wheeljack was in the ICU was a bad idea. So I was amazed when Sunstreaker sauntered into my office. He of all people knew better.

"What do you want?" I growled.

"Nothin'," he shrugged.

"Then get out. I'm busy and I don't need you loitering around. I see enough of you and that damn twin of yours as it is," I said, refusing to look up.

"Really?" he asked. "You don't look busy. In fact, I'd bet you've been staring at that same data pad for at least the last half hour."

I refused to acknowledge him. Maybe if I ignored him he'd go away. And maybe petro-rabbits would fly.

Sunstreaker came into my office, spun a guest chair around and straddled it, crossing his arms over the back.

"What do you want Sunstreaker?" I asked, hoping my exasperated tone would make him go away.

He just looked at me for the longest time. He didn't say a thing, just stared at me. Finally, when I was just about ready to throw him out bodily he looked away and pulled two cubes of energon from subspace.

"Here," he said, handing me one. "Trust me, you're going to need it."

"I don't need any high grade," I said, ignoring the proffered cube.

"It's not high grade, it's just energon. You look like you need it," he said, offering the cube again.

I looked at him, searching his face for any signs of a trick. True, this was Sunstreaker not Sideswipe, but that didn't mean I had to trust this seeming compassion. I only saw concern in his deep blue optics, so I reached out and took the cube.

"He's hurt badly, but you're the best we've got and he'll be fine. He always is," Sunstreaker said with a nod toward the ICU.

I took a good hard look at the mech across from me. He looked like Sunstreaker. He even sounded like Sunstreaker. But this wasn't Sunstreaker. "All right, where's the pod?" I asked.

"What?" he asked clearly confused.

"Never mind," I said, "Look, Sunstreaker, you never come here unless your brother's in, so you'll forgive my … what do you want, Sunstreaker?" I asked. I was in no mood for whatever game this was.

"You know, Sideswipe has been in there more times than I care to remember. There are days when I feel like this may as well be my quarters," he said with a sigh. He sipped his energon thoughtfully before continuing. "I know what it's like to have someone you love lying there and there's nothing you can do about it except wait."

"Yeah, I guess you do," I said taking a sip. My tank grumbled a little. I hadn't realized just how low on fuel I was.

"You just … have to trust that you did everything you could and that 'Jack's gonna pull through," Sunstreaker said, finishing his cube and tossing it into the trash. "You're the best medic I've ever seen. And Wheeljack? He has to be the most stubborn mech ever created. As impressive as that explosion was, it'll take more than that to take him out."

"It was impressive wasn't it?" I chuckled grimly. "I will never understand why that mech insists on making inventions that he knows are going to blow up."

"Because he can. It's the same reason why Sideswipe keeps insisting on pushing Prowl's buttons," Sunstreaker said.

We sat in companionable silence for a time as I drank my energon. After a while, Sunstreaker reached out and laid his hand on mine.

"Hey, doc?" he said. "Do me a favour and try to remember something. We've all been through this and there's no reason why you have to go through it alone, okay? Trust me, I know how it can eat you up if you try to shoulder it all by yourself."

I looked at Sunstreaker. This was a very different side of him. It was far too easy to see him simply as the bravo he pretended to be and forget that there is a mech underneath. I'd be tempted to say a sensitive artist, but that would be pushing it.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"Don't mention it," he replied as he stood up. "I mean it. Don't mention it ever. If you do I'll deny it. I have a reputation to keep up," he added with a wink as he left my office.


End file.
